BC beats Maine, wins fifth Hockey East title in six years

Boston College captured its 11th Hockey East
championship with a 4-1 win over Maine on Saturday night at TD
Garden. (Dave Arnold Photography)

Final: Boston College 4, Maine 1

Recap: Freshman sensation Johnny Gaudreau got
the Eagles off and running, scoring a pair of goals 2:07 apart to
put Boston College up 2-0 with just 7:31 gone in the championship.
That was all Jerry York’s squad would need.

Brian Flynn tallied for Maine at 7:37 of the second period to
cut the lead in half, but that was as close as the Black Bears
would come. Pat Mullane picked up his second point of the evening,
beating Maine netminder Dan Sullivan with just 1:21 left in the
middle frame to put BC ahead by two going into the third.

Barry Almeida registered his 22nd tally of the
campaign with 1:01 left in regulation and the Maine net vacated,
closing out the scoring in the Eagles win in the title game.

Tournament Records: Boston College 4-0-0; Maine
3-2-0

Key Play of the Game: With Joey Diamond off for
an unnecessary interference penalty, Gaudreau’s second strike
came just nine seconds into BC’s power play. From that moment
on, the Eagles were absolutely in the driver’s seat.

Connolly’s Commendations: Though
he’s been mentioned heavily already, it’s a no-brainer
to give the first stick salute to Gaudreau. The freshman
forward’s 18th and 19th goals of the
season were huge for the Eagles. The undersized winger also added
an assist.

Parker Milner came up big when BC needed him most. The
Eagles’ netminder stopped 41-of-42 on the night. Thirty of
his saves came in the final 40 minutes of play.

Sullivan certainly deserves a pat on the back for his work
between the pipes for Maine. The sophomore goaltender stood on his
head to keep the Black Bears within striking distance, but his
teammates just couldn’t solve Milner.

Connolly’s Critiques: Maine’s power
play finished the evening 0-for-5, squandering a few too many
chances to cut into BC’s lead throughout the contest.

After a spectacular performance against BU in the semis, Maine
d-man Will O’Neill had a rough go of it in the championship
game, firing just one shot goal and sporting a team-worst, minus-2
rating (tying him with teammate Andrew Cerretani, Mark Anthoine and
Stu Higgins).

Notes: For Boston College, the win gave them
their 11th Hockey East championship. The Eagles have now
won five of the last six years and six of the last eight. Maine
(2004) remains the last team other than BC or BU to win the
title.